Firearm safety system

ABSTRACT

A firearm safety system processes images of a shooter and/or a target, and determines whether to lock or unlock a firearm based on a result of the processing. An image capturing device mounted on the firearm captures images of a shooter and a target. A storage media includes images of authorized users of the firearm, and images of targets not be shot at (“do-not-shoot” targets). A microprocessor compares the shooter image with images of the authorized users, and/or the target images with images of the do-not-shoot targets. The firearm is locked when (a) the shooter image does not match an image of any authorized user or (b) the target image matches an image of any do-not-shoot target. The firearm is unlocked when (a) the shooter image matches an image of any authorized users and (b) the target image does not match an image of any do-not-shoot target.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No.15/645,230, entitled “FIREARM SAFETY SYSTEM”, filed on Jul. 10, 2017,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Several of the disclosed embodiments relate to safety devices forfirearms, and more particularly, to lock and unlock trigger of thefirearm.

BACKGROUND

There are many firearm safety devices available in the market.Generally, those kinds of devices prevent unwanted or accidentalshooting of firearms. Few firearms have the firearm safety device as abuilt-in system while others have it as an aftermarket item that isinstalled on the firearm. Firearm safety system is one type ofaftermarket retrofit to existing firearm safety device and amanufacturing component for new weapon regardless of the firearm design.It can be tailored to and utilized on all types of firearms: pistols,rifles, shot guns, and machine guns. Traditional firearm uses a keyedlock or biometric lock, for example, fingerprint recognition. Thetrigger cannot be pulled unless a person is identified as an authorizedperson, i.e., a person with a key, inserts the key into a keyhole andunlocks the device, or a person whose fingerprint is recognized by thebiometric system.

The drawback of the current locking mechanism is that only one personcan operate firearm. Also, it does not prevent the accidental shootingor misuse of firearm. Further, it does not prevent to use firearmagainst self to do suicide.

Incidents of accidental shooting can include usage of the firearmagainst kids, own family member, shooting self and shooting of apoliceman by a criminal.

SUMMARY

Technology is disclosed for a firearm safety system (“the technology”).Various embodiments of the technology include (a) an image processingsystem that processes images of a shooter and/or a target, and (b) anactivating mechanism that determines whether to lock or unlock thefirearm based on a result of the processing. The images can be capturedby an image capturing device, e.g., a camera, mounted on a barrel of thefirearm. In some embodiments, the image processing system processes animage by comparing images captured from a first camera (referred to as a“front camera”) and a second camera (referred to as a “back camera”)with a set of images available from a storage media. For example, when afirearm is used to shoot the target, the front camera can capture one ormore images of the target (referred to as a “target image”) and the backcamera can capture one or more images of the shooter (referred to as a“shooter image”). In some embodiments, a microprocessor in the firearmsafety system processes one or more images captured by the camera. Themicroprocessor can be configured to process the images using imagerecognition software.

In some embodiments, a set of pre-loaded images are stored in anelectronic storage media. The set of pre-loaded images can include afirst group of images of authorized users of the firearm, e.g.,authorized shooters, and a second group of images of people or targetswho should not be shot at (referred to as “do-not-shoot” targets). Themicroprocessor compares the shooter image with the first group ofimages, and/or the target images with the second group of images. Thefirearm is locked when (a) the shooter image does not match any of thepre-loaded images of authorized users of the firearm or (b) the targetimage matches one or more of the pre-loaded image of the do-not-shoottargets. The firearm is unlocked when (a) the shooter image matches anyof the pre-loaded images of the authorized users and (b) the targetimage does not match any of the pre-loaded images of the do-not-shoottargets. Only when the two safety criteria are met, i.e., a recognizedshooter and a non-recognized target, will the firearm be enabled forfiring.

In some embodiments, a rechargeable power supply is installed on thefirearm, which supplies the power to the microprocessor. In someembodiments, a flashlight attached to the image-capturing device can beturned on during the night time to capture images.

The image capturing device can be a digital camera or a 360-degreerotating digital camera.

In some embodiments, an image processing software such as facialrecognition or iris recognition software can be installed in themicroprocessor to process the images with the set of pre-loaded images.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a firearm safety system installed on a firearm,consistent with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a firearm pointed towards a target by a shooter,consistent with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an image capture device of the firearm safety systemof FIG. 1 with night vision flashlight, consistent with variousembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process of locking and unlocking of thefirearm of FIG. 1, consistent with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for processing an image to lock and unlock thefirearm, consistent with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Technology is disclosed for a firearm safety system (“the technology”).Various embodiments of the technology include a) an image processingsystem that processes images of a shooter and/or a target, and (b) anactivating mechanism that determines whether to lock or unlock thefirearm based on a result of the processing. The images can be capturedby an image capturing device, e.g., a camera, mounted on a barrel of thefirearm. In some embodiments, processing of an image includes comparingthe images captured from a first camera (referred to as a “frontcamera”) and a second camera (referred to as a “back camera”) with a setof images available from an electronic storage media like microSD cardor flash memory attached to the microprocessor.

For example, when a shooter points the firearm towards a target, then afront camera and the back camera of the firearm safety system captureimages of the shooter and the target. A microprocessor of the firearmsafety system which processes the images to determine whether to lock orunlock the firearm. In some embodiments, the storage media is loadedwith the images of the authorized users and do-not-shoot targets.

In some embodiments, the microprocessor is configured to process all theimages captured by the camera using software such as facial, image orIris recognition. The microprocessor compares the captured images withimages available in the storage media.

In some embodiments, if the image of the shooter does not match with theany of the images in the storage media, or the image of the targetmatches with any of the images in the storage media, the microprocessorgenerates a signal to lock the firearm. In some embodiments if the imageof the shooter matches with any of the images in the storage media andthe images of the target does not match with any of the images in thestorage media, the microprocessor generates a signal to unlock thefirearm.

In some embodiments, a night vision flashlight is coupled with thecamera so the camera can capture a clear image of the shooter and targetin low light condition.

A rechargeable power supply can supply the power to the microprocessor.The microprocessor is configured to indicate the low battery conditionas well. The camera can be a still camera or a video camera. Further,the camera can be a 360-degree camera.

In some embodiments, the microprocessor is configured to use fingerprintor voice recognition to add an additional layer of security. The storagemedia also stores the images captured by the camera. The microprocessorcan be configured to send a text message to a designated cell phone oran authority about the activation of the gun. The microprocessor canalso process and detect the uniform of the military or police to protectthem as a target. The microprocessor can also detect the images of thechild and lock the firearm.

Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates a firearm safety system installed on a firearm. Thefirearm safety system can be used to lock or unlock the firearm 90. Thefirearm safety system can include one or more of an image capturingdevice, e.g., one or more cameras such as front camera 10 and a backcamera 40, a microprocessor 20, a power supply 30, and an electronicstorage media 50. The firearm safety system can be installed on thefirearm 90, e.g., on a barrel 85 of the firearm 90.

In some embodiments, the image capturing device captures the images ofthe shooter and the target. The image capturing device can includemultiple cameras such as the front camera 10 and the back camera 40 or asingle camera such as a 360-degree camera. The front camera 10 can beused to capture the images of a target and the back camera 40 can beused to capture the images of a shooter. The microprocessor 20 canprocess the images captured by the front camera 10 and the back camera40. The power supply 30 supplies power to various components of thefirearm safety system, e.g., the cameras and the microprocessor 20. Insome embodiments, the power supply 30 is a rechargeable power supply.The electronic storage media 50 can store a set of images ofdo-not-shoot targets and authorized users of the firearm. Multipleimages of the shooter and the target can be captured when the firearm 90is pointed to the target. The captured images can then be stored in thestorage media 50.

The microprocessor 20 processes the images captured by theimage-capturing device, e.g., using facial or any other imagerecognition software. It compares all the pre-loaded images available inthe storage media 50 with the captured shooter and target images. Insome embodiments, the microprocessor 20 is programmed to process thevoice recognition or biometric data of the shooter. A set of pre-loadedimages are stored in the electronic storage media 50. The set ofpre-loaded images can include a first group of images of authorizedusers of the firearm 90, e.g., authorized shooters, and a second groupof images of people or targets who should not be shot at (referred to as“do-not-shoot” targets).

The microprocessor 20 compares the shooter image with the images of theauthorized shooters and/or the target images with the images of thedo-not-shoot target. The firearm 90 is locked, e.g., by an activatingmechanism (not illustrated), when a shooter image does not match any ofthe pre-loaded images of authorized users of the firearm 90 or when thetarget image matches one or more of the pre-loaded “do-not-shoot”images. The firearm 90 is unlocked, e.g., by the activating mechanism,when the shooter image matches any of the pre-loaded images of theauthorized users and the target image does not match any of thepre-loaded images of the “do-not-shoot” targets. Only when the twosafety criteria are met, i.e., a recognized shooter and a non-recognizedtarget is found, will the firearm 90 be enabled for firing. Themicroprocessor 20 can be also configured to send a notification to auser, e.g., a text message to a designated cell phone number or a numberof an authority, if the firearm 90 unlocks the trigger 60.

In some embodiments, the microprocessor 20 is supplied with power by thepower supply 30. The microprocessor 20 can also indicate a low batterycondition if the remaining power in the power supply 30 goes belowspecified threshold. In some embodiment, the microprocessor 20 alsostores the captured images in storage media 50 to keep evidence for thefuture as well as the past captured images.

The storage media 50 can be any external or in-built storage likeMicroSD card or flash memory etc. The storage media 50 also gets powersupply from the power supply 30 associated with the firearm 90.

FIG. 2 illustrates a firearm 90 pointed towards a target 70 by a shooter80. For example, when a shooter 80 points the firearm towards a target70, then a front camera 10 and the back camera 40 of the firearm safetysystem capture images of the shooter 80 and the target 70. Amicroprocessor 20 of the firearm safety system processes the images todetermine whether to lock or unlock the firearm. The microprocessor 20compares the shooter 80 image with the first group of images, and/or thetarget 70 images with the second group of images. The firearm 90 islocked when (a) the shooter 80 image does not match any of thepre-loaded images of authorized users of the firearm 90 or (b) thetarget 70 image matches one or more of the do-not-shoot targets. Thefirearm 90 is unlocked when (a) the shooter 80 image matches any of thepre-loaded images of the authorized users and (b) the target 70 imagedoes not match any of the do-not-shoot targets. Only when the two safetycriteria are met, i.e., a recognized shooter and a non-recognizedtarget, will the firearm be enabled for firing. By locking the firearmin scenarios such as the one described above, the firearm safety systemprovides protection against accidental shooting. For example, anauthorized shooter's child could not accidentally discharge the firearm90. In another example, an authorized shooter, such as a policeman,could not accidentally shoot his/her child when the child sneaks intothe house. The firearm safety system would serve as a safety tool notonly to prevent accidental home shootings, but also to ensure greatersafety for law enforcement personnel and the military, guarding againstthe scenario of their own firearm being used against them.

FIG. 3 illustrates an image capturing device of the firearm safetysystem of FIG. 1 with night vision flashlight, consistent with variousembodiments. An image-capturing device 200 can include one or morecameras. One camera can be the front camera 10 which points towards thetarget 70 and captures the image of target 70, and a second camera canbe the back camera 40 which captures the image of the shooter 80. Theimage capturing device 200 can also be a 360-degree camera, which can beused to capture the image of both the shooter and the target. Aflashlight 100 is also attached with the camera like Ultraviolet (UV),InfraRed (IR), White Light, LED which can be activated facing both frontand back to illuminate both target and shooter for identificationpurposes, and/or prevent target from easily seeing shooter.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example implementation of thefirearm safety system consistent with various embodiments. At block 405,the image capturing device 200 captures the images of the shooter 80 andtarget 70. The image capturing device 200 can include one or morecameras, such as the front camera 10 and the back camera 40. In someembodiments, the image capturing device captures the images when thefirearm 90 is pointed towards the target 70. After the images arecaptured, the shooter 80 and the target 70 images are provided to themicroprocessor 20 for processing.

At block 410, the microprocessor 20 starts processing the shooter 80 andtarget 70 images. The microprocessor 20 compares the shooter 80 imagewith the images of the authorized shooters in the storage media 50and/or the target 70 images with the images of the do-not-shoot targets.

At block 415, the microprocessor 20 generates a signal based on theimage processing result and sends the signal to an activating mechanismof the firearm 90 to lock or unlock firearm.

At block 420, based on the signal value generated by the microprocessor20, the activating mechanism determines whether to lock or unlock thefirearm 90.

At block 425, the activating mechanism locks the firearm 90 when theshooter 80 image does not match any of the pre-loaded images ofauthorized users of the firearm 90 or a target 70 image matches one ormore of the pre-loaded images of the do-not-shoot targets.

On the other hand, if the shooter 80 image matches any of the pre-loadedimages of the authorized users and the target 70 image does not matchany of the pre-loaded images of the do-not-shoot targets, at block 430,the activating mechanism unlocks the firearm 90. That is, the firearm 90can now be used to shoot the target 70. Only when the two safetycriteria are met, i.e. a recognized shooter and a non-recognized target,will the firearm 90 be enabled for firing.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example of processing the imageto lock and unlock the firearm 90, by the microprocessor 20 consistentwith various embodiments. In some embodiments, the process of FIG. 5 canbe executed as part of block 415 of FIG. 4. At block 500, themicroprocessor 20 determines if the captured shooter 80 image matcheswith any of the images of the authorized shooters in the electronicstorage media 50. If a match is not found, at block 510, themicroprocessor 20 generates a signal for locking the firearm 90.

On the other hand, if a match is found, at block 505, the microprocessordetermines if the captured target 70 image matches any of the images ofthe do-not-shoot targets in the electronic storage media 50. If a matchis found, at block 510, the microprocessor 20 generates a signal forlocking the firearm 90. On the other hand, if a match is not found, thatis, the target 70 is not one of the do-not-shoot targets, at block 515,the microprocessor 20 generates a signal for unlocking the firearm 90.

What is claimed is:
 1. A firearm, comprising, a plurality of camerasconfigured to capture a plurality of images, wherein the images includea first image of a target and a second image of a shooter; a memoryconfigured to store the images; a processor configured to process theimages and generate a signal that indicates a result of the processing;and an activating mechanism configured to lock or unlock the firearmbased on the signal from the processor.
 2. The firearm as recited inclaim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of cameras is a digitalvideo camera.
 3. The firearm as recited in claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to process the images by: comparing the firstimage and the second image with a set of images stored in a memory chip,and generating the signal having a first value or a second value basedon the comparing, the first value indicating that the firearm is to belocked and the second value indicating that the firearm is to beunlocked.
 4. The firearm as recited in claim 3, wherein the processor isconfigured to generate the signal having the first value in an event thefirst image matches any image from a first subset of the set of images,the first subset of the set of images corresponding to targets not to beshot at.
 5. The firearm as recited in claim 3, wherein the processor isconfigured to generate the signal having the first value in an event thesecond image does not match any image from of a second subset of the setof images, the second subset of the set of images corresponding toauthorized users of the firearm.
 6. The firearm as recited in claim 3,wherein the processor is configured to generate the signal having thesecond value in an event the first image does not match any image from afirst subset of the set of images and the second image matches an imagefrom of a second subset of the set of images, the first subset of theset of images corresponding to users not to be shot at, the secondsubset of the set of images corresponding to authorized users of thefirearm.
 7. The firearm as recited in claim 1, wherein the activatingmechanism is configured to lock the firearm if the signal includes afirst value as the result of processing.
 8. The firearm as recited inclaim 1, wherein the activating mechanism is configured to unlock thefirearm if the signal includes a second value as the result ofprocessing.
 9. The firearm as recited in claim 1, wherein the processorincludes a facial recognition module to process the images.
 10. Thefirearm as recited in claim 9, wherein the facial recognition module isconfigured to process the images by: extracting facial features of usersin the images, comparing the facial features of users in the images withthose of users in a set of images stored in the memory, and generatingthe result of the processing based on the comparison.
 11. The firearm asrecited in claim 1 further comprising: a power source that is configuredto supply power to the processor.
 12. The firearm as recited in claim11, wherein the power source includes at least one rechargeable battery.13. The firearm as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of camerasincludes a first camera and a second camera, wherein the first camera isconfigured to capture the first image of the target and the secondcamera is configured to capture the second image of the shooter.
 14. Thefirearm as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory stores a library ofimages having a plurality of targets and a plurality of shooters. 15.The firearm as recited in claim 1 further comprising: a night visiondevice that is coupled to the plurality of cameras, wherein the nightvision device is configured to throw a flash light.
 16. A firearm,comprising, an image-capturing device configured to capture a pluralityof images, wherein the images include a first image of a target and asecond image of a shooter; a processor configured to: determine whetherto unlock or lock the firearm based on the first image and the secondimage, and generate a signal that indicates a result of thedetermination; and an activating mechanism configured to lock or unlockthe firearm based on the signal from the processor.
 17. The firearm asrecited in claim 16, wherein the image capturing device is at least oneof a still camera, a video camera, or a 360-degree camera.
 18. A method,comprising, capturing a plurality of images from a plurality of camerasmounted on a firearm, wherein the images include a first image of atarget and a second image of a shooter of the firearm; processing, by aprocessor on the firearm, the images and generating a signal thatindicates a result of the processing; and locking or unlocking, by theprocessor, the firearm based on the signal.
 19. The method recited inclaim 18, wherein processing the images includes: comparing the firstimage and the second image with a set of images stored in a memory chipin the firearm; generating the signal having a first value or a secondvalue based on the comparison; locking the firearm if the signalindicates the first value; and unlocking the firearm if the signalindicates the second value.
 20. The method recited in claim 19, whereingenerating the signal having the first value includes generating thesignal with the first value in an event: the first image matches anyimage from a first subset of a set of images stored in a memory, thefirst subset of the set of images corresponding to targets not to beshot at, or the second image does not match any image from of a secondsubset of the set of images, the second subset of the set of imagescorresponding to authorized users of the firearm.